Watching pirated movies on iPhone has become a little difficult. After climbing the charts on Apple's App Store, the trendy Kimi app with its collection of pirated movies has disappeared. The widely downloaded app, which pretends to be a spot-the-difference eye test game, ranked higher than Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video on Apple's top chart of free entertainment apps this week before being removed. Ta.
iPhone owners have previously been able to use Kimi to browse a wide range of pirated versions of popular movies and TV shows without paying anything or logging into any kind of account. Many of the films in the Best Picture category at this year's Oscars, of varying levels of quality, were about “You.”
poor thing Included in a grainy pixelated state, but a high quality version Murderers of the Flower Moon Annoying advertisements for online casinos were splashed across the top, but they were on “Kimi to Stream.” It's not the viewing experience Martin Scorsese envisioned for his audience. In addition to movies, viewers also had access to episodes of currently airing TV shows. rupaul's drag racethrough the Kimi app.
Who is behind this pirated app? It remains a mystery. The developer was listed as “Marcus Evans” in the app store before Kimi was removed, and this was the only app listed under their name. WIRED was unable to contact Evans or Kimi App officials prior to publication, although it is likely a pseudonym.
Apple is known for meticulously guarding its “walled garden” of apps that are safe to download, thus preventing piracy streaming options like Kimi. It's amazing to see it rise to the top of the charts before being discontinued. Kim said she received over 100 user reviews on the App Store, many of which overtly mention free movies hidden within the app, and the user rating was 4 stars. was. Apple representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
However, this is not the first piracy app to garner massive downloads on the App Store. Back in 2015, WIRED spoke to the developer of a similar app, Popcorn Time. Security reporter Andy Greenberg wrote, “Popcorn Time reduces the complexity of BitTorrent's search engine, tracker, client, seeding, unzipping, playback, and storage to his one click.” I am. It's unclear how exactly Kimi was offering streaming, but it definitely simplifies the process for users to watch pirated copies, just download the smartphone app and press “play.”
The Kimi app story represents a new resurgence in online piracy. Piracy is once again on the rise, posing a serious challenge to copyright owners and film and television studios. The black market for pirated copies is likely to continue to grow as streaming services crack down on shared passwords and budget-conscious users look for cheaper entertainment options.
